Set as backup

[Metspitzer]

I have a flag in the system tray that says "set backup"
I might try a flash drive, but I don't have any idea how much space
that would take. The instructions say you need a flash drive larger
than 1G. I have one, but it would be nice to know how much space a
backup takes.

I also have an XP network machine. I have not been able to select a
network drive for the backup. (This would be much better)

The only choice I seem have is my DVD burner. I have not tried to use
a flash drive yet.

 

[Tester]

Backup of what? If you are talking about your entire system then you
will need a minimum of 5GB! Also, to backup an entire HD, you should be
using an external hard disk mounted on a USB port not some cheap flash
drives that are here today gone tomorrow!.

hth

 

[Metspitzer]

I was planning on backing up the entire disk if I could use a network
drive. I am using around 40G.

If I had to use a flash drive, I would expect it would let you chose
what to back up.

My main question is why am I not allowed to chose a network drive? My
only option (with no flash drive installed) is to use my DVD.

I have Home Premium.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/0015sz.jpg/

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Inline...

I was planning on backing up the entire disk if I could use a network
drive. I am using around 40G.

You obviously need a drive big enough to hold 40GB or whatever amount
you plan to back up.

Some programs use compression, but don't expect any of them to get 40
GB onto a flash drive that's "larger than 1G" (I assume you mean GB)
unless it's pretty close to 40 GB. That depends on the compression
ratio, of course, but 40:1 or 20:1 isn't going to happen.

I don't know about your program, since you don't say what it is.

If I had to use a flash drive, I would expect it would let you chose
what to back up.

Depends on the program, of course. I don't know about your program,
since you don't say what it is.

My main question is why am I not allowed to chose a network drive? My
only option (with no flash drive installed) is to use my DVD.

This is a guess; I don't know about your program, since you don't say
what it is.

Maybe your backup program does not back up to network drives. You might
consider using the software that came with the drive.

I have Home Premium.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/0015sz.jpg/

The picture is much too blurry to interpret...

 

[Paul]

I was planning on backing up the entire disk if I could use a network
drive. I am using around 40G.

If I had to use a flash drive, I would expect it would let you chose
what to back up.

My main question is why am I not allowed to chose a network drive? My
only option (with no flash drive installed) is to use my DVD.

I have Home Premium.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/38/0015sz.jpg/

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore

"And if you're using the Professional or Ultimate editions of Windows 7,
you'll also have the option of backing up your files to a network."

In other words, Microsoft has made the mistake of breaking a basic function,
to make a buck. It's one thing, to make WinXP Mode an "Anytime Upgrade" candidate.
That makes sense. But breaking a backup feature, on the other, sucks. The backup
feature set should be the same on *all* OS versions, to encourage people to back
up. Making it hard to backup, means more people will be going around "exposed"
to the potential for a hardware failure. If Microsoft doesn't want to provide
backup software, and removed the function entirely, at least there would be
a level playing field, and we could then encourage people to grab a third
party tool.

You can try making a backup to a USB hard drive. That might be the easiest
thing to do, and that way, you can get as much space as it takes. (You could
use a 2TB external if you wanted.) No need to use DVDs or Flash drives.
Since hard drive quality is dropping, the usage of *two* external USB
drives is recommended (alternate between them, when making backups). If you
buy the prepackaged Seagate or WD drives, some of those have pretty bad failure
rates (judging by reviews on Newegg). Make sure you read the reviews before buying.
I prefer to assembly my own external drives, by buying an enclosure kit and
a raw internal drive and taking the five minutes to assembly them with a
screwdriver. That way, you can find an enclosure with a fan, to provide some
cooling.

*******

When posting to Imageshack, look carefully at the options for the upload.
You have to tick a box, to prevent "downsampling" of the image, which
ruins text/dialog box pictures.

Paul

 

[Metspitzer]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/backup-and-restore

"And if you're using the Professional or Ultimate editions of Windows 7,
you'll also have the option of backing up your files to a network."

In other words, Microsoft has made the mistake of breaking a basic function,
to make a buck. It's one thing, to make WinXP Mode an "Anytime Upgrade" candidate.
That makes sense. But breaking a backup feature, on the other, sucks. The backup
feature set should be the same on *all* OS versions, to encourage people to back
up. Making it hard to backup, means more people will be going around "exposed"
to the potential for a hardware failure. If Microsoft doesn't want to provide
backup software, and removed the function entirely, at least there would be
a level playing field, and we could then encourage people to grab a third
party tool.

That sucks
I will probably just put another drive in my machine, since I have the
crippled ware version.

Thanks

I have plenty of drive space in another machine. Guess I need more in
this one.

You can try making a backup to a USB hard drive. That might be the easiest
thing to do, and that way, you can get as much space as it takes. (You could
use a 2TB external if you wanted.) No need to use DVDs or Flash drives.
Since hard drive quality is dropping, the usage of *two* external USB
drives is recommended (alternate between them, when making backups). If you
buy the prepackaged Seagate or WD drives, some of those have pretty bad failure
rates (judging by reviews on Newegg). Make sure you read the reviews before buying.
I prefer to assembly my own external drives, by buying an enclosure kit and
a raw internal drive and taking the five minutes to assembly them with a
screwdriver. That way, you can find an enclosure with a fan, to provide some
cooling.

*******

When posting to Imageshack, look carefully at the options for the upload.
You have to tick a box, to prevent "downsampling" of the image, which
ruins text/dialog box pictures.

Thanks for the tip. I assumed there was a zoom feature.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

I will probably just put another drive in my machine, since I have the
crippled ware version.

Thus losing everything if there's a serious failure[1] (or theft) of
that machine.

Of course, a separate internal drive is better than a second partition
on the boot drive, but an external drive kept away from the computer is
even better.

[1] By which I mean a failure, such as a power surge or a fire, that
kills both drives. Not likely, but not impossible.